Break the Civilized Chains
by Shenandoah76209
Summary: Riddick has been left for dead. But when the mercs arrive they already have a bounty they've been keeping for her abilities. Riddick hasn't really had much good luck with Seers but that's about to change. River's been biding her time, forced to endure slavery, and now she finally has a chance to escape. If Riddick will trust her. Spoilers for the new Riddick movie!
1. Prologue: What's Past Is Prologue

**Break the Civilized Chains**

_**Prologue: What's Past is Prologue**_

Don't know how many times I been crossed off the list and left for dead.

Guess when it first happens the day you were born...

You're gonna lose count.

.

So this ain't nothin' new...

.

There are bad days...

And then there are legendary bad days...

This was shaping up to be one of those...

Can't stay in the open...

Can't risk another attack...

.

It's always the punch you don't see comin' that puts you down.

But why didn't I see it?

.

Of course they're gonna try to kill me; death is what they do for a living.

.

So the question ain't what happened.

The question is...

What happened to me...?

.

How'd they get so close?

How'd I let 'em blindside me like that?

.

Necromongers...

Some wanted to put a crown on my head...

Some wanted to put a noose around my neck...

.

Okay, more nooses than crowns...

.

Every Lord Marshall was supposed to take some big oath...

.

One that I...

...…Never really got around to.

.

Could say it created a little friction.

And more than a few assassins...

.

I needed a way out...

Some new place...

Or maybe just...an old one...

.

Vaako...

You can't blame him for dangling Furya...

Home has a certain equity...

.

But I do blame him.

For what came next...

.

Instead of Furya...

We wind up someplace called

Not Furya...

.

Yet again...

Someone was trying to play me...

So yet again...

We play for blood...

.

.

Somewhere along the way, I lost a step...

I got sloppy.

Dulled my own edge.

Maybe I went and did the worst crime of all...

I got civilized.

.

.

So now... we zero the clock

.

Gotta find that animal side again.

.

.

* * *

Black

Nothingness...

The fuzz of tranqs...

In my blood...

In my mind...

.

Memories...

Mercs...

They found me...

.

They killed...

.

No!

Don't think of that now...

.

Memories will kill me...

If the mercs don't manage it first.

.

.

Pain...

Steel against flesh...

Chains...

.

And worse than chains...

.

.

Flesh tearing…

Burning...

That sickening sensation...

Senses reeling...

all six of them...

.

.

Someone's breath in my face

A body over mine,

Huge,

Inflicting even more agony.

Crushing me…

.

.

Penetrating...

Piercing...

.

.

Wetness, slick, more burning...

It stops.

Relief.

Air.

.

.

And then it starts again...

Another body...

Between my thighs…

As bad as the steel...

As bad as the needles...

.

Worse than the training...

Worse than the deterioration of my mind...

.

At least three of them...

Smelling of sweat,

Gun oil and grease,

Onions and MREs,

And Simon's blood.

.

Heavy body,

Heaving over me,

Rutting in me…

.

Like I'm a _thing_...

.

Time to hide away for a while...

I'll come out again later...

After they're done...

.

But they don't stop...

Not for days...

Or is it weeks?

I can't tell...

Don't care...

.

Manic words, spilling out...

I don't know what I'm saying...

I never know what I'm saying...

.

And it stops...

For a time...

.

It happens again...

.

I go away for a while...

.

The boy with Book's symbol

Giving me water...

Interpreting my words...

.

He stops them...

A nice boy...

.

Doesn't say which ones it was though...

Not that stupid...

.

.

But I don't need to see their faces.

I already know their minds,

Their names.

.

All I have to do is endure...

.

And wait...

.

.

* * *

_Author's Note: So welcome to my latest story. It's another crossover that with the help of RCoots got banged out in about two weeks. She's very kindly being a beta reader for me so the story reads decently. I don't normally work with a beta but she's been awesome about it. The story is much better with her help. She's also kinda the one who got me started writing it so any thanks or blame should be portioned out accordingly. LOL_

_This is something of a departure for me, I've never written a River and Riddick story that didn't involve romance of some kind. Hopefully as its read that will make a certain amount of sense. A sequel is planned though and I'm working on that and Animals and Tangled by taking it all in turns. _

_If you all know anything about me by now it's that I might write slowly but I don't stop once I've started posting something. So I can promise you that every WIP will be finished eventually. This story just sort of grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go. It was very Riddick-like in its behavior._

_The next chapter should be up in a day I think. I hope you enjoy this tidbit and that I've wetted your appetites for me. Please leave a comment to let me know if I've intrigued you sufficiently or not._

_Thanks for reading!_


	2. 1: All Our Yesterdays Have Lighted Fools

**Chapter 1: ****All Our Yesterdays Have Lighted Fools **

He found the cave system about two months after he got out of the mountainous area filled with bad water, and things that would rather eat him than not. Riddick set Dog down and pointed a finger at him, it was still pretty small but better Dog learn to behave and obey now. Not following orders could get it killed. For a half a second he wondered why he was worrying about an animal. Then he shook his head, he'd started to take care of Dog. If he just stopped when it got a little annoying he was no better than a merc. There was something he'd heard, in another life when he'd been just a kid. Something about a rose and a prince and a fox. About when you tame something, you're responsible for it.

Riddick shrugged and looked at Dog again. If he tied him to something, he was bait for any predator that came along. If he didn't and Dog followed him the little animal could get hurt. Although Dog was growing up pretty quick, he'd heard animals in the wild had that tendency.

Maybe that was why foster kids like him tended to grow like weeds when they hit their teens? Once the cute and innocent stage passed and no one gave a rat's ass about them anymore they had to grow or die? It made a skewed sort of sense and he looked at Dog again. "I'm serious. You stay here. Dunno what's down there. You're snack size right now. Let's not tempt anybody, right?"

Dog cocked his head and looked at him curiously and Riddick sighed. Here went nothing. He moved forward into the cave and relished the darkness, pushing his goggles up so he could see clearly.

* * *

Dog had not learned to stay. It was a good thing for it that there weren't any of those mud creatures in the caves. No other predators that he could see either. He guessed the animals on the savanna preferred dens in the scrub or against hillocks. It wasn't a true savannah, more like a cross between prairie and tundra. It was all hardy scrub grass that drew moisture from the ground, rocky outcroppings, and miles and miles of miles and miles.

So he set up what could laughably be called housekeeping in the caves. A few animal skulls for dishes, skins for bedding, though dog was surprisingly warm for such a small thing. And of course, his shiv making supplies. If there was one thing he was good at that didn't directly involve killing, it was making shivs.

He still had the huge metal sword thing and it was handy to have against some of the larger predators that wandered the plains. But it wasn't exactly tool sized or even something he wanted to use a lot. He didn't know what it would be called technically. It didn't matter much. Not like he'd be having a discussion if he had to use it. When he pulled his shivs, the conversation tended to be over before it started.

Riddick frowned at the big weapon and set it aside. The problem with Necro metal was that it was inelastic. He'd punched through it easily with his own shivs but he hadn't had much of a choice as to materials when it came to weapons, not at first. At the time he'd still been using the leg guards as a brace for his broken shin. Bone tended to be brittle as well, but it was easier to work with and more plentiful than the Necro metal.

Necro armor was crap for armor and pounded flat, cut to shape and honed into a blade hadn't increased the quality any. So some good shivs were absolutely necessary.

Dog whined curiously and padded over to him with a hopeful look in its eyes. It was doing that sprouting thing all adolescent animals went through and was constantly hungry. He knew the feeling. It was definitely time to hunt again. But first, he needed to make a thorough exploration of the cave system. He might see in the dark, but he still didn't want anything sneaking up on him while he was resting. And sleeping under an obelisk for the rest of his time on the planet had very little appeal.

* * *

Another dream from Shirah. Another night wasted arguing in his head with a woman he wasn't even sure existed on the physical plane. She liked to bitch about things he'd learned over the years. She'd been especially unhappy with the goggles he'd forced the Necros to make for him. Corrective lenses gave him back the full range of colors he'd had before his eyes began to shine. He'd liked being able to see colors again even if there weren't a lot of rainbows on the Necropolis. Not a lot of color there at all really. It had been more of an exercise to see if he could make the Necros do something for him particularly. His vision still wasn't perfect but on a landscape like this one he wasn't completely blinded during the day. Shirah had been pissed though.

Shirah being angry was pretty much a constant since he'd started having the dreams. If she wasn't nagging at him about his destiny then she was talking about Alpha Furyans and their responsibility to their people. Like the nightmares he'd lived with for years weren't bad enough. Like the massive mind fuck of the idea that he was supposed to avenge his entire race wasn't sufficient. But even with Zhylaw dead, Shirah still wasn't satisfied. She wanted him to do something else. With him being on this planet...well. That just made her worse. She was constantly harping at him about Furya. Like he wasn't well aware that this wasn't his home planet.

The Necros had dropped him on the farthest edges of the star systems that called themselves the Alliance. His question when he'd seen it marked on the charts had been Alliance of what. History had never been his strong suit. The Necro navigator had just shrugged and Riddick had mentally made a note to find out later. Later turned out to be more than four years after his initial question. Time had a way of getting away from him when he wasn't on the run or counting the days until an escape opportunity presented itself.

It was strange the Necros hadn't pushed him to conquer all those worlds. It wasn't like they were new or unknown. It was at least five weeks travel in cryo from the Alliance systems to more populated space. It was a full two months from Helion Prime. Of course the Necros didn't travel at the same speed as the rest of the 'Verse. They moved at their own pace, methodical, implacable, and left nothing behind them but dead planets. In his time as Lord Marshall he'd put a stop to the Ascension protocol and steered the Necros away from more populated space, ostensibly moving towards the Underverse. But even taking into account the slow travel of the Necromonger fleet it had taken a while and the Necros hadn't been happy with the lack of conquering.

He'd pretty much made up his mind that he wasn't going to be responsible for the mass murder that he equated with the Necros method of conversion. That had been when the assassination attempts had really begun to pick up. And he'd made up his mind to figure out a way out. A way home. Which, had in turn, led him right to where he was. On the farthest reaches of the Alliance systems, a full weeks travel in cryo from the nearest world.

The Necros hadn't pushed forward towards the Alliance though. Maybe Vaako just wanted to go to the Underverse. Maybe the Necros had met a few of the Alliance folks themselves and decided they weren't worth the trouble of conquering. Riddick grinned, he hadn't spent much time on these planets though his name was known 'Verse wide as wanted.

According to history, these systems were the origination of the human species in this section of space. All the folks who'd settled planets outside the Alliance had started out there. They'd just kept moving further out, developed cryo ships for the longer hauls and kept on going. Pretty soon there were planets that spoke more English and had begun to leave the Chinese out of the language entirely. There were planets had adopted some other language as the second tongue, like Helion Prime, English and Arabic. English was still pretty predominant though, thankfully. He had a decent command of Chinese but his English was better. Not that his language could be considered couth in either tongue.

Riddick had smirked when he'd looked into some of the recent happenings in the Alliance. He'd been fairly well isolated on the Necropolis, and he didn't like cortex screens in his rooms. There was always a low grade buzzing noise in his ears and the light bothered his eyes. So he'd hadn't exactly been up on current events and he'd missed something huge. At least until he'd gotten bored in the six months before he'd decided to head for Furya and took to looking at the newsfeeds on the cortex.

Apparently, there'd been a huge hullabaloo some years back. A wave had gone out and taken over every cortex, every news screen and shown exactly how the monsters known as Reavers came to be. Someone had decided to mess with a newly terraformed planet called Miranda. And the results hadn't been what they'd expected.

There'd been rumors, of course as to who was behind the wave. But the 'verse gossip was strangely silent on that. He'd seen the wave, seen that woman scientist trying to get her word out, and being killed horribly for her trouble. He'd decided then and there that if a merc ever tried to compare him to a Reaver he was justified in killing the son of a bitch simply for character defamation.

It was curious that the Necros had dumped him here. Had they just picked the closest deserted planet? Or was this on the way to Furya? Had Krone decided to dump him here or had it been Vaako's plan from the start? He'd bet on Vaako, Krone hadn't struck him as particularly bright. Not really a long term planner. Not that it mattered much. The Necros were well on their way to the Underverse by now and good fucking luck to them.

Riddick whistled for Dog and stood up. Enough thinking and speculating. Time for some exploring and hunting. Action. Get his blood going and stop him thinking about that crazy blonde Furyan in his dreams.

He couldn't stop wondering though. If he managed to get to an Alliance library on a core world, one of the true libraries, would he find Furya listed as a world colonized? Would he be able to locate it on star charts? The Necros claimed they'd erased Furya from all the maps but they did tend to be...egocentric regarding their own capabilities. And they wouldn't have left the Core worlds untouched if they'd gone through and destroyed the records. The Alliance probably wouldn't even exist if the Necros had come through this space.

Riddick moved through the darkness and began to make a mental list. If he ever got off this rock, he had things to do. Definitely.

* * *

River shuddered and gasped for air as Luna pulled off the cryo cuff. Even being in the box that Si- that she'd traveled in to get onto Serenity hadn't been as bad as the cryo cuffs. They cut off sensation but her mind never stopped. She could hear the mercs, dreaming in their death sleep, knew she should be breathing but she wasn't. The first time she'd come out of cryo she'd had a panic attack. Luna had the presence of mind to keep the rest of them away from her until she'd calmed down. She'd been like a wild animal, fingers curled into claws, shrieking and wailing about death in sleep and the evil she saw in dreams.

Cryo was awful. Without physical control, she'd had nothing to help her concentrate, nothing to close off the torrent of thoughts and feelings and visions that flooded her mind. Regaining her body and being surrounded by the mercs had nearly thrown her back into insanity until she'd shut everything down and focused on breathing and only breathing.

She'd been lucky Luna was so religious. He hadn't understood what was wrong but he'd talked very seriously and calmly to Santana about none of them being around except him when she first came out of cryo. "Maybe it's 'cause she's a Seer," Luna had said earnestly. "But I don't think she's all the way under like the rest of us."

"There wasn't anything in her sheet that mentioned it," Santana had spoken slowly, his snake eyes studying her. "But then, they tried to hide she was a Seer too. Just gave the basics." He'd looked at Luna, "All right. You were right about her being easier to understand when we didn't use her. We'll try it your way with the cryo cuffs."

He'd made a circling motion over his head and the rest of the mercs had followed him. Luna had crouched next to her and offered a cup of water. By then she'd calmed down enough to take it and sip carefully, "So we're on Lilac, and then we're headed out to a skyplex and after that Aquila Major. The plan is to resupply here and pick up any new sheets with contracts we might be able to fill."

River nodded her understanding and looked at him, "The mad men, the ones who never stop screaming. Paint their ships with red and live for blood and rage. They are close here. Should not leave the system in cryo, not until we are out of range. They will take the ship; make us all wake and tear into us. They never lie down. Will make us all scream. Board us, rape us to death, use our skins for clothing and eat us. And if we're very lucky they'll do it in that order."

Luna might not have been from the Alliance worlds originally but he recognized enough of her words to go from point A to point B. "Reavers?" He gulped, "Yeah, I don't guess cryo is a good idea while they're around."

"Many killed 'round the time of the Miranda wave," River whispered, "But they are vast. And they never stop. They never rest. Like sharks. If they stop moving they die." She looked up at the ceiling, picturing the sky. "Lilac is too close to them. Get the sheets, get supplies and leave. Don't stop at the whorehouses until the skyplex. The skyplex is out of their range, far enough from Blue Sun for safety."

Luna had nodded and gotten up to use the comm system. It had been a tense fifteen minutes of conversation while he recalled all the men. Santana had gotten his sheets and Diaz had gotten more supplies while the rest of the men were grumbling about no shore leave.

"Shut it," Santana had snarled at them as the last, Nunez climbed back on to the ship. "The girl says Reavers are close. And right now, I don't know if I care how close. Any close is too close. So we're taking off. We've got supplies for two days, that'll get us far enough out that we can go into cryo until we hit the skyplex. We'll spend a longer time there."

Falco had been muttering about visiting the whorehouse and they had no guarantee that the Reavers were going to come right then. River had shuddered and wrapped her arms around her legs, grateful that Luna was between her and the merc. Luna believed in her ability to prophesy and Santana believed in Precogs or Seers. His belief had become more firm when she'd been babbling about a Judas and thirty pieces of silver and he'd been prepared for betrayal thanks to Luna's translation of her words. The rest of the men would take more time but the important thing now was to leave Lilac. Get out of range and hope the Reavers didn't come sniffing too far.

* * *

Pain.

It was supposed to be over. They wanted the visions more than the release. But the burning and the tearing was proof enough that it was happening again.

Time to go away for a while.

Won't stay here.

Won't.

* * *

Her eyes ached. They were dry as if she'd been staring at the cortex screen too long. Her mouth was dry too, her lips chapped. And she hurt, badly between her thighs...oh.

She remembered and wished she hadn't. Falco had gotten impatient. He'd lost his money in a poker game and couldn't afford a whore. So he'd sent Luna off for some supplies and uncuffed her wrist from the chair. She didn't remember anything more than the first few minutes, though in dreams the memories would come unburied and she'd be forced to deal with them.

"Girl?" Luna's voice was gentle, he was squeezing water into her mouth and she swallowed reflexively.

"She is here," River nodded slowly and focused her eyes on his young face. She blinked and drew back as Santana's grimy face appeared next to Luna's.

"Good. You're back," He nodded and set some sheets before her. "Luna, get some food in her, some water and then she looks at these," He tapped the sheets. "Need to know a good target. Something to get us some ready cash right? Easy huh?"

River nodded and picked the sheets up, "Food after. Sheets..." She tilted her head and looked at the image, tilting the sheet gave her a profile view. "Could take this one, but he has a crew that will cause trouble. Killing the crew is the only way to take him and that will likely lead to arrest."

"Huh," Santana took that one and studied it. "Maybe another time then, when he is guaranteed to be alone."

River frowned, "Visits Madam Wisteria's every seventh day. An appointment. No crew then." She looked up at Santana, "Gun check at the whorehouse. No gun check on the street though."

The boss merc's grin almost made her shudder. River wouldn't have given him that much if she hadn't seen the sort of whores the man in question favored. He liked them smaller than she was, and younger; fourteen or younger if he could get them. The 'Verse was better off with his head in a box.

"This one..." River picked up another sheet and shuddered violently. It fell from her fingers, "Death. Blood..." She shook her head. "Not now. Maybe not ever. Payday will lose you every man on the ship. Man likes bombs."

"And this one?" Luna handed her a sheet and she tilted her head curiously.

"White collar crime, wanted for embezzlement," She let her eyes unfocus and tilted her head. "Soft target. Pays for new identities. Accounting is considered lucrative. Criminals pay to keep him on staff. Territory of the Tongs. Easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle. Much layout in bribes and fees before a monetary return on investment is seen."

"Luna, can you make sense of that?" Santana hadn't understood one word in ten of what she'd said."

"She's saying we'll have to shell out a lotta money before we catch the guy. He's useful to a lotta people. So they'll pay to keep him. Might not be worth it," Luna translated for her.

Santana looked at the sheet she'd given him, "We'll go with this one for now. Try to figure out the rest later. I've got more but one job at a time right?" He strode away, "Get her some food and water. I want to be wheels up in an hour."

River had looked at Luna and tilted her head, "She is useful? She will not be..." She shuddered.

Luna hastened to reassure her, "Nah, Falco got his ass kicked for that stunt. Santana had Diaz put a hurt on him. He's had those sheets for two whole days waitin' on you to come out of it. He was talking about putting Falco's bits in a box so you'd know it wouldn't happen again. I think he was hoping that might bring you out of it sooner."

"Had to go away," River said softly. "Couldn't...not again. She can't." She shook her head.

"I'll bring you some water, you can wash," Luna had given her a cup and she'd smelled soup in it. She saw him filling a bucket with water and caught the intent in the minds of Nunez and Falco. The bucket would suffice. She would not endure them again.

* * *

The bright side of her half-hearted suicide attempt was that none of the men ever raped her again. Santana had beaten her black and blue after she'd been revived and smacked Luna around for his stupidity in leaving her alone with a bucket of water deep enough to drown in. She wasn't allowed to bathe alone after that. Luna would turn his back after presenting her with rags and a small bowl of water but he wouldn't give her privacy for another attempt.

That led her to the not so bright side. Before she'd had a wrist shackled to a chair or she was watched when she wasn't cuffed. Santana had decided that if she was going to attempt to kill herself then she couldn't be trusted with any freedom. So steel chains ran from her ankles and one wrist to a hook in the ceiling above her cryo net. She wasn't given anything she could possibly hone to an edge, wasn't even allowed a brush or comb for her long hair. Now it was a snarled mess that reached her waist and had become a convenient way for Santana to yank her around if he was feeling meaner than usual.

When she wasn't chained in place on the ship Santana had her attached to his belt like a dog on a leash. If she didn't speak quickly enough she'd get smacked. If she didn't make sense, she'd get hit. They'd stopped at one station on a world of ice and snow, and Santana had watched her closely but she'd presented nothing but a blank face. His mind had been filled with a sheet, an image of a face half covered by goggles and the hope of picking up a trail. She'd gotten impressions of mercs, three of them killed by the man Santana sought and knew this man was a huge prize to be caught. But the man wasn't on this world anymore. And even were she inclined to help Santana find a bounty, it wouldn't be this man who killed mercs as easily as he took a breath. So she kept her face blank and her tongue silent and simply looked around at the ice and snow with interest. They'd left the world after only a day.

Twice they'd come near the Alliance systems, and once there had been talk of setting down on Miranda, for salvage purposes. Santana had heard about the dead world and thought it might be worth a look. She'd looked at Luna and she'd known her eyes had been wide and her face chalky. She'd been able to feel her heart beating in her ears, pounding with adrenaline. Luna had nudged Santana and the boss had come to crouch in front of her, "All right girl, lookin' like a ghost. What's wrong with Miranda?"

She'd stared at him, "He did not see the Wave? The Miranda Wave? Heard of Miranda but not of the Wave?" There was a slow shaking of heads from all the mercs and she shook her head in amazement, "Should read up on the news feeds when out of cryo. Do a search on the Cortex. Miranda wave. That's all. Won't ever need to ask again."

Mr. Universe had been right, nothing stopped the signal, but men who traveled in cryo for months at a time, didn't care about anything except contracts and bounties, and paid no attention to newsfeeds tended to not hear things that shook the 'Verse. The Alliance had always kept to itself, not interested in the planets beyond its reach if it couldn't control those worlds. The other planets outside the Alliance seemed to feel the same way about it. They were unruly, ungoverned and liked it that way. But the wave had reached every single one of the worlds spinning.

Diaz had shrugged at her, "We heard the world was dead. Heard that they'd tried to cover it up, but never heard what happened to make it that way. Unification war? Like Shadow I guessed, bombed back to the stone age." River shook her head slowly and looked at Luna's back.

Luna had taken a seat at the terminal on the co-pilot's side and run a search. "Son of a gun," He whistled and brought the wave up. The rest of the crew crowded around the screen.

Doctor Carron's words flowed through the air, anguished and River wished she could unhear what she had memorized long ago, "…Just a few of the images we've recorded and you can see it isn't... it isn't what we thought. There's been no war here, and no terraforming event. The environment is stable. It's the Pax, the G-32 Paxilon Hydrochlorate that we added to the air processors. It's..."

Her voice went on and on until the gunshot and her screams and Diaz cursed and fumbled to turn the screen off but they'd already seen and could not unsee it. As one they all turned to look at River and she shuddered, "Here's us." She pointed in the air as if to a ship in the sky, "Here's Miranda. And all the space in between, is Reaver territory. You wanna sail through that, you're signin' up to be a banquet."

"I'll be a son of a—" Vargas shuddered and shook his head.

River looked at them coldly, "Not from the Alliance systems, didn't understand. Never been this far into our space before. Stayed on the edges, away from Miranda. There are reasons cryo travel isn't popular here on the Rim. Reavers like cryo ships. Like 'em like a baby likes candy. Gobble 'em up, rape you to death man or woman, skin you alive and let you die. They feed on terror, on hate and rage. Make you stare at all of it until you can only become one of them, madness feeding on your brain."

"How do you know?" Luna asked, "How do you know what happens to survivors?"

River laughed, a high near hysterical sound, "Reavers don't leave survivors. They leave Reavers-to-be. Only way to survive is to not be where they are. Be silent, be still. Hide in the vault and pray they go before you run out of air. Pray you have enough bullets to give mercy to all your folk and still have one left over for yourself."

"Right," Diaz, ever practical spoke up. "I vote we not sign up to be a banquet."

"I think you are right," Santana had nodded.

* * *

_Author's Note: So here we are with the actual first chapter. Are you all enjoying? This was really a lot of fun to write. Sorta dragged me into it but still fun._

_By the way, the M rating is for violence and language mostly. We won't be having romance in this story, just didn't seem right. _

_Just as a sort of disclaimer, any errors are my own. I haven't found a lot of canon sources about Furya or Shirah so I've used a healthy dose of my imagination. We're going to see more about her in the sequel so I needed a little setup in this story for her. _

_So as always folks I love to hear your comments and thoughts. Hope you're enjoying yourselves and thanks for reading. _

_We'll get to the actual movie in the next chapter. And Riddick will get his first look at River. Wonder what he'll think._

_Thanks to RCoots for all her help in looking over my crazy grammar and odd phrasing and helping me to hammer out something readable. Well...as readable as my stuff ever is!_


	3. 2: Come Away O Human Child

_**Chapter 2: Come Away O Human Child**_

Considering her situation, things could have been worse, River thought to herself wryly. A boot kicked her in the hip and she squeezed her body farther away from the line of traffic going into and out of the ship. She'd been stuck with these pigs for more than a year and they still didn't have any idea that she was more of a Reader than she was a Precog or Seer as Luna called her. Though with enough practice, even forced as it was, she was getting better at Seeing what was to come.

The first month had been the worst. Santana had decided against selling her back to Blue Sun for the bounty. He'd decided to keep her as a pet, a useful pet. After four days of their...company she'd been babbling, her mind half gone with the rape and the filth of their minds and bodies pressing against hers. Somehow, in her gibbering, twisted words and biblical references, it had come out that one of the men was going to betray Santana during the job they had lined up.

Santana hadn't believed her at first, in fact he had hit her even harder in order to shut her up. Luna had heard her too, and explained the references to Santana, though the head merc had scoffed at the time. But he'd come back with a bullet crease in his arm and a thoughtful expression on his face. The wound had looked less out of place than the expression, in her opinion.

It had taken a while for Santana to figure out that the more she was abused, the more she retreated into her mind and the less she talked. The less she spoke, the fewer predictions there were. He'd put Luna in charge of her.

Luna's mind was...very young. The boy had been barely eighteen if he was a day. But he'd kept the men from her after she'd gone mindless for two days after Falco had raped her again. He'd made the connection, not Santana. He'd stood in front of her and argued with the crew boss. Pointed out that the worse she was treated the less sense she made. That he'd only been able to understand her because she'd quoted the Bible.

"He believes. Knew someone else who believed once," River had whispered to him as he held the bucket of water for her to dip a rag in. It was the closest she'd come to a bath since she was taken, turning her back to him and trying to cleanse herself of their seed beneath her skirt. In the back of her mind was nothing but gratitude to Si-, to her brother for his last gift to her. She'd grown, become a woman and he'd given her inoculations against disease, an implant against conception. It had been time for that he'd thought. "Believed hard. Never questioned why. Lost his faith. No such thing as a better world." She had tilted her head and looked at him, "Be not overcome with evil but overcome evil with good."

"Romans, twenty one twelve," Luna had murmured. "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

River had shaken her head at him with a sigh, "God wants no part of this business." She'd turned her face away when he would have dabbed at the blood on her lip, a deep cut that would surely scar, "Entered the den of iniquity willingly and of his own free will."

Luna hadn't minded that she made no sense half the time during that first month. When she'd begun speaking in something other than half gibberish bible quotes he'd been cautiously hopeful that she'd be all right. That hope had almost disappeared after Santana had beaten her for not seeing a three man team where he'd been expecting only two. After that she'd stopped speaking unless prodded and Luna didn't prod. He was convinced that her Sight was a gift from God. She'd stopped trying to persuade him otherwise, but the upside of his conviction was that he would go out of his way to try and interpret her predictions; especially if she referenced the bible.

It had been very difficult to keep her sanity in the first six months, to provoke the Sight and to manipulate the mercs. It had gotten easier when she'd been able adjust the settings on one of the energy rifles. It was something easily fixed if it was looked for, but lethal if it wasn't found before the weapon was fired. And for a cunning mind and nimble fingers on a carelessly placed weapon, the settings were laughably easy to disrupt.

A little sabotage and then a few phrases to Luna about plasma fires and burns, things behaving as they should not, cryptic but just clear enough. Luna had convinced Santana to do an overhaul on the weapons before the job. Since she'd been nowhere near the rifles as far as they knew, it seemed like a legitimate precognitive vision. And Santana had begun to believe more firmly in what she Saw and trust her when she made predictions.

It didn't stop the beatings. After all Santana and the others were still pigs. But after two days of catatonia, and Luna had put his foot down, she wasn't raped again. Then they found another girl. River felt bad for her, but at the same time she was grateful she wasn't the one under those men anymore. The men hit her more often, but she'd trade fists and bruises for rape any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Santana had the bad habit of backhanding her, the others of kicking her out of the way. And if Santana lost his temper, well, the merc leader had beaten her into unconsciousness more than once. She'd hedged her predictions a bit too carefully on those occasions and he thought that a thrashing would remind her to See better.

She remembered that she'd been pretty once. There was nothing remotely pretty about her anymore. The cut on her lip had scarred; a thin line that bisected her lower lip, noticeable due to the way it shaped her mouth and drew attention to her lips. She was never without bruises these days, disguising any fineness of feature. And she had scars over her ribs from being kicked with steel-toed boots. Luna always cleaned and tended her wounds carefully but he couldn't stop six men, all larger than he was, none of whom had any respect or concern for her body if they couldn't use it to slake their lusts. Her hair was a tangled mess and Santana frequently used it to drag her around if he favored a more personal touch than her chains. She was hardly graceful with shackles binding her movements and she couldn't know how badly her skills had eroded while her body was restrained. Cryo...was imperfect. Her muscles seemed functional; as if nothing had atrophied. Still she couldn't be certain until she'd moved around, tested them. Cryo did nothing to silence her mind but at least her body slept.

Now though… Now things were getting interesting. The planet hummed with life, sleeping mostly, a haze of alien minds overlaying the tundra. The bright dots on the horizon were the animal minds to her inner vision. And one brilliant mind, powerful, like nothing she'd ever felt, watching the merc station. Watching the mercs hurrying around, setting up their _fèi tóng làn tiě _ equipment. The impression she got from the watching mind was that he considered the mercs to be less troublesome than ants.

River looked at the locker with her weapons and boots and sighed. There was no way she could get them and get free of the shackles before someone, Luna most likely, came back. She didn't want to kill him if she could help it. But she wanted her sword, her knives and axe and guns. She wanted her boots. She wanted her freedom gorramit and if she couldn't escape this time, well she'd give the thought of suicide more consideration. She had no illusions; if she truly decided to die, she could manage it before any of the considerably less than genius men could stop her. She had enough control over her body to keep her breathing even through a fight with Reavers and that had been when she was half insane. She knew exactly how to stop her heart. That was just one way to die. She knew dozens.

Santana came back on the ship and unlocked her chains from the bulkhead. He locked the clamps around his belt and roughly jerked her to her feet, hauling her off the ship and shoving her so she sprawled in the dirt nearby. Then the merc boss busied himself with setting up the Cyclops and River pushed herself upwards, sitting as far away as she could. The shackles were on both ankles and one wrist, joined chains that didn't allow her much freedom of movement. They were old, with manual locks; the electronic shackles were used on their other prisoners. Which meant if she got a length of stiff wire she could pick them. River took a few minutes to scan the horizon, finding that watching mind effortlessly and moving on from its position before anyone noticed her scrutiny.

The watching mind sharpened with interest. It had to be the convict they all sought, Riddick, and she could almost feel eyes on her. Speculative thoughts, interest, some sympathy before Santana jerked at her chains again and hauled her inside the station.

* * *

It was a decent rock to live on. It wasn't Furya but it was all right. Riddick looked down at his pal, sprawled at his feet, eyes on the horizon where clouds gathered in the distance. Dog was right. Rain would make existence on this really screwed up planet a lot less pleasurable. They'd been lucky one storm had blown past them; the rain hadn't hit the caves or the tundra where they hunted. But it was only a matter of time before it came their way. He'd halfway enjoyed his little sojourn here, getting back in touch with the animal side. Though he could have done with a few less dreams from Shirah, urging him onwards. Onwards to gorram where? If he'd had a clue as to where Furya was he'd have hit that emergency beacon a lot sooner. The waking vision from that nagging woman had set his teeth on edge. But it had been the rain that decided him.

Setting up his traps and laying his plans out had taken a little time. But after he'd activated the emergency beacon, he hadn't exactly had to run. There were plenty of mercs not quite stupid enough to take him on. And then there were the ones who thought they were smarter…like the ones approaching in atmo.

Busy little bees. Riddick smirked to himself as he watched the mercs set themselves up. A robot perimeter system, plenty of guns and a decent, if not wonderful, ship. Things were about to get interesting. The head idiot in charge was posturing, striding around giving orders that had his men scrambling.

Then the head merc went back onto the ship and came out with something a lot more interesting than a gun or another robot. A girl. She looked tiny compared to the men, even the one with peach fuzz still on his chin. But she was chained up, shackles on her ankles and wrist, with chains leading to the head merc's belt. And she didn't look happy about where she was. Her hatred and disdain for the mercs was in every line of her body. He couldn't tell much about her other than the general impression of being diminutive, with a tangle of dark hair that fell down her back. Her head was moving slowly as if she was scanning the horizon, pausing slightly when she looked in his direction, for all the world as if she knew where he was, before continuing to turn.

The boss had shoved her down, out of his way and she'd hit the ground pretty hard. As Riddick watched she sat up carefully, tattered skirt tucked around her legs, knees under her chin, with her arms around her legs, out of the way and as far from the boss merc as she could. He could see the tangle of hair pulled over one shoulder and slender white hands fussing with it but the details of her face and body were well hidden. He was trying to figure out what she was to them, apart from the likelihood of being their sex toy, when the head idiot in charge jerked on the chains and practically dragged her inside the station.

Riddick waited a moment but there weren't any screams drifting towards him on the wind so either she wasn't being raped or she'd learned there was no point in protesting it. For her sake, he hoped for the former. For his sake too. Knowing what had happened to Kyra with the mercs she'd signed on with, theorizing what had happened when she was a kid, he wasn't sure he could take the physical resemblance and a circumstantial one on top of it. This girl had a similar spirit of defiance...like Kyra. He could admire how she carried herself even chained up. The boss merc came out of the station and strode purposefully towards the ship. After a moment, the smallest merc with the peach fuzz went inside the ship and the boss came back out.

Moments later Riddick frowned at the sound of a screech from inside the ship. It was a woman's voice. He wouldn't have pegged Peach Fuzz for a rapist. But a few minutes afterwards a completely different girl burst out of the ship at a limping run and headed across the tundra, straight in his direction. He could see the desperation on her face despite his distance, she wanted to get away from those men, and even the inhospitable planet was preferable. As he watched her running straight towards him the boss merc lifted his gun and Riddick knew why she'd been set free. One last head trip on the part of the boss. One last mind fuck. Give her freedom and then take away…everything.

The shot was like a cannon across the still ground. It blew a hole in the girl's middle, sent her sprawling forward to meet his eyes where he crouched behind the outcropping. He cursed that she hadn't gotten a little further, behind the rocks, where he could do something instead of sitting and watching her bleed. Nothing he could do for this one. He couldn't even try to bury her until he could be certain of the perimeter.

The other girl though…he'd planned on screwing with the mercs anyway. That was always an enjoyable pastime. He'd have to see if the girl in chains wanted to play too, assuming that spine stayed steely when she wasn't in chains. He'd seen some convicts like that, long as they were locked up they were badass. Get 'em free and they folded like cheap cards.

Then the head merc started posturing, saying his name loudly, and talking about putting Riddick's head in a box. Riddick shook his head, mercs never learned. Always with the show of strength first...conciliations second, after his blood was up and he'd just as soon kill them as look at them. So now, the game changed. These mercs, he'd play for blood with them. The next set to show up… And there was bound to be another set, the creed was greed after all; he'd see how they behaved.

He listened half-heartedly and made sure his eyes met those of the dying woman. She was breathing her last, dying right in front of him, and all he could do was keep his eyes on her. Give her the dignity of knowing he'd remember her. A single tear slipped out of her eye and dripped down her nose as Santana finally shut his mouth. And the last of the light left her eyes.

It was kinda funny; Santana had been so busy shouting into the wind that he was on his way into the station before he heard the other ship in the atmosphere. Riddick tilted his head and looked upwards, sure enough, here was another merc ship, come to claim the bounty. This ship looked newer, cleaner, a classier clan of mercs.

The new ship landed even though he was sure the first merc boss was trying to wave them off. Then it was just a matter of retreating a bit farther from the perimeter while they were distracted. They'd be having a pissing contest if he knew mercs.

He watched from a minimum safe distance and crossed his fingers that this second batch was just as stupid as the first. And that the first were territorial. It'd be a damn shame if that girl in the station had to put up with brand new 'company'. Not that he'd mind killing a few rapists. But he could do that even if they didn't try to prove their manhood while he was in hearing distance. If he thought God would listen, he might have actually prayed for her, in Kyra's memory. But God doesn't and he wouldn't, so all he could do was get out of ear shot before he lost his temper.

* * *

_Author's Note: So here we are... chapter 2. Curious as to what all of you think. We're building to things a little slowly here and it'll be a little bit before River and __Riddick actually speak. The movie doesn't allow them much opportunity for it for a little while. But I think it'll be worth the wait. I've taken a few liberties with Riddick's actions and of course having River in the mix does tend to...complicate everything. She's a little troublemaker that way isn't she?_

_I've had a few questions asking what happened to Serenity and how did River get captured. Those will be answered but not immediately. But if anyone does have questions I encourage you to leave a review and ask. Even if I can't answer your exact question I'll try to give you a hint, or at least tell you that we'll find out a few chapters down the line. Thanks for all the feedback and I hope you are all enjoying this._

_Big thanks to RCoots for being beta on this story. Without her help it would be...well probably not done yet as I attempted to hammer out exactly what needed fixing._

**Chinese Translations**:

_fèi tóng làn tiě _ - scrap metal **/** a pile of junk

**Quote Sources**:

Be not overcome with evil but overcome evil with good - Romans; 21:12

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. - Psalms, 23:4


	4. 3: Where There Is No Struggle

_**Chapter 3: Where There Is No Struggle There Is No Strength**_

River listened as the new mercs politely rode roughshod over Santana's crew. She would not dignify the thugs with the designation of 'clan'. They were nothing like children or family and didn't deserve the title.

The first man through the door was older, with piecing blue eyes that took in the interior of the station and her presence chained to the pillar with one glance. The next was a woman. She was just as tall as the man, blonde and strongly pretty. The last two were a black man, skin darker than Zoe's and a man with coppery skin who reminded her of the pictures she'd seen Si-, in an encyclopedia of the Native Americans from Earth That Was. River shoved the pain away, slammed the door in her mind and shut the memories behind it. Information and events. Not people. She'd go mad otherwise.

"Oh, and one more thing," Santana poked his head in the door. "Don't talk to my girl there. Don't touch, don't talk, don't even look."

The first man looked at Santana with an incredulous expression, "You have to chain your woman up? Seriously?"

"Not my woman," Santana sneered in River's direction. "She's a tight little _shǎ bī_, but I've had enough of her. My girl. My property." He left again and River rolled her eyes.

"Santana is foolish but mean," River said quietly to no one in particular. "Mean as a snake and twice as slippery." She shrugged.

"Are you all right?" Johns wasn't looking at her but he was clearly addressing her. "Why does he have you locked up? Are you a bounty?"

River smiled slightly, "He keeps me. Keeps the girl for the edge. Mr. Boss Johns." She nodded at him and then to each of them in turn, "Dahl, Moss, and Lockspur." Their shocked expressions turned her smile more than a little mad. "See? He keeps her for a reason." She deliberately avoided the question of any contract on her. There was no way she'd give another merc that sort of ammunition and Santana would never mention it. There was a reason no one used her name after all. After more than sixteen months of her being useful, all of Santana's men ignored how Santana had found her. No one wanted to lose the one thing that helped them stay profitable. She was too useful to risk to loose lips. Loose lips sank ships.

Luna came in the station then and looked at the new mercs and their dazed expressions before he muttered under his breath and moved over to River. "You can't talk to them," He reminded her quietly. "You know what he'll do."

"His good luck charm," River nodded solemnly. "She is his edge. It is still ownership. Should be a four letter word."

"Yeah..." Luna sighed. "Can you tell me anything that will help us catch this guy? It'd be a big payday, it'd put him in a real good mood. Good moods are good right?"

River nodded again, "He speaks the truth. But what you ask..." She closed her eyes and searched the world, searched for probabilities, did her best to provoke the sight. In a few minutes she had far too much insight into how bad things could go. Her Read of the convict's brain was especially convincing. She calculated what she could say without giving away the plans she'd Read. Translating that into something Luna could interpret didn't take long for a genius brain.

"Seeks the man with poison in his veins. Eyes in the darkness. The cunning of a panther..." Her eyes flew open. "Teeth. Teeth in the ground." She shook her head and gave her best appearance of a struggle for words, "When Moses wished to lead his people from Egypt, his God sent the plagues. The eight plague... we will be beset by the eighth plague." River tilted her head in a way that she knew looked eerie and stared at Luna. The stranger she acted, the more difficult prophecy seemed for her to accomplish, the more he believed it was true. She'd gotten very good at acting as if she was stressed to find the right words when her brain easily translated what she saw into proper understandable language. But the more obscure her words, the more likely they could be misinterpreted. She had to prophesize or she'd be thrashed. She didn't have to make it easy for them. The balance between Seer and Reader wasn't an easy one.

"Plagues?" Moss muttered to Lockspur in confusion.

"Plagues...locusts?" Luna blinked at her and shook his head. "So teeth in the ground, he sees in the dark, he's smart and he's got poison in his veins..." His hand went to his bible, fingering the spine of it thoughtfully as he placed the references she'd made. "Anything else?"

"He does not lie. He keeps his word," River murmured. "He keeps what he kills. Or he did. For five years. He has the heart... Heart and spirit of Furya." Luna nodded his understanding, his thoughts on the locusts that had eaten every scrap of Egypt's crops. River shook her head at him, "Takes her too literally. Plagues based on cyclical events, natural occurrences. Symbols. Cicadas on a seventeen year life cycle, dormant within the trees for all but four months of their cycle."

Luna didn't get it and it showed on his face but at least she'd tried. At least he wouldn't die, she thought. Truthfully, she wouldn't care as much if he did. He might not have raped her, might not hit her but he hadn't freed her as she'd begged for the first seven months of her existence with the mercs. Calling it a life would be abusing that word too badly.

She sighed, "Teeth in the ground." Luna nodded and hurried out to speak with Santana.

"He's your interpreter?" Johns asked quietly.

River nodded and shrugged, "Precog isn't an exact science," She lied effortlessly. What she Saw, when she actually Saw something and didn't calculate the probability, was as bright and shining as Riddick's mind. She knew exactly what would happen. Saw exactly what was in the ground in part because she'd touched the earth outside and seen the past, what had happened so many times before. It was the same thing Riddick knew; the potential disaster loomed large in his mind.

"So he helps you figure out what things mean," Dahl murmured.

River nodded and shrugged, "Read the cards for them. Make predictions. Clairvoyant. Precognitive. Seer he calls her." She looked up sharply as Santana and the others came in and began to move around the station.

The new mercs ignored her and she remained silent as Santana carried one of his ships nodes towards the locker. "Hey Too Late," Santana called out to Johns. "Need you to pull a node from your ship and store it right here next to mine, okay."

"Oh really?" Johns was studying his map still, not paying Santana much attention. "Why's that?"

"Riddick triggered the beacon to get off world right," It seemed Santana wasn't totally stupid. He slid the node onto the shelf. "Basically, he was calling a taxi."

"And?" Johns really was working hard to ignore Santana but the ugly merc was hard to ignore. River knew that too well, she'd been trying for more than sixteen months.

"And a ship would make a sweet trap right?" Santana walked towards them, spreading his hands expansively. "Fine space, metal walls, jail cell." He grinned very pleased with his thoughts, "It's cool, eh?"

Dahl asked Johns softly, "Is it true half the people you meet are below average intelligence?" River giggled to herself by her column and hid twitching lips behind her hand. The merc woman slanted River an amused look as Santana walked off.

"Let's be sure the ship stays grounded when he comes for them okay?" Santana called as he walked out again.

River listened as Johns had a mental debate with himself and conceded that the idea was not a terrible one despite the source of it. "Dahl, pull a node from the ship."

* * *

Riddick watched as the mercs moved around, night was falling and they were lighting up their little area like they were afraid of the dark. If they were smart, they were afraid of the dark. Or at least afraid of him.

The cooler air of the night made sound carry further for some reason, and he could hear the mercs talking. One of them thinking eleven mercs was overkill. He wasn't counting the girl, which was funny, but if she was a captive and not just bait for him that made sense. She wouldn't be part of the team. It had occurred to Riddick that she was bait. She was small enough to look like a child and it wasn't a precise secret that he didn't kill kids. If she was part of their plan then they were smarter than he'd first thought. Of course, that would still put them a half step below amoebas.

Even if she wasn't willing, she could still be bait. But unwilling made her a legitimate captive. And he doubted the mercs could afford an actress who could project her dislike as clearly as that girl had earlier today. If she wasn't part of their plan, she could be an ally. Memories of Kyra flooded him for a moment, her body language, her defiance of anyone who caged her and he shook them off. He had business to take care of; memories wouldn't help him deal with it.

Then he caught a little more of the conversation, "Luna said the girl, she talked about teeth in the ground. Eyes in the dark, like a panther man." One of them sounded a bit nervous, proving he was smarter than the average merc.

"She also talked about the plagues of Egypt man," The first merc, the stupid one, retorted derisively. "I don't think we're gonna have locusts or cicadas or whatever swooping down on us."

"I dunno man, swooping is bad," The second merc said dubiously. "She said he has poison in his veins."

"What, like if we cut him we die?" The first one was sounding stupider by the minute he was so incredulous. "According to Luna she also said he don't lie. When have you ever met a killer or a con who didn't lie?"

"I dunno," The second merc was still sounding nervous. "She said he had a furious heart or spirit or something. Whatever the hell that means." Riddick froze in place and listened hard, "And she said he keeps his word. Keeps what he kills. Five years worth of kills man. Five years he's been gone to ground."

"Whatever man, this is too many guys," The first merc was dismissive.

"You're jinxing our janx," The second warned him. "That's not cool man."

Riddick listened as they continued on past him and thought for a bit. The Necromongers believed in seers. Apparently, the old Lord Marshall had killed his entire race, his entire planet because of a prophecy. Aereon, the old bat, had done her best to make the prophecy come true. It had cost him everything. He hadn't exactly liked the manipulative Elemental, and saying he disliked his, experience with the Quasi Dead was an understatement of epic proportions. He'd gotten Aereon off the damn Necropolis as fast as he could. Sent her back to Helion Prime and good luck to her. The Greater Quasi Deads...he'd really been debating slitting each one of their throats but hadn't gotten around to it before he left.

Now these mercs had someone who knew all about him, but from what the mercs were saying it sounded like she wasn't telling everything she knew. If she was like every other Seer he'd met she knew plenty. Seers usually did. The Quasi Dead had a plethora of information they didn't share, just hoarded it. Aereon had been the same damn way. So this Seer had to know a helluva lot more than she was telling if she was typical of the type. She'd probably Seen him with the Necros if she'd talked about keeping what he killed for five years. Funny how it seemed she was just telling the bits that would scare the hell out of the mercs.

After all if she'd Seen him as Lord Marshall she'd Seen how soft he'd gotten, Seen how he'd gotten left on this rock. She would have Seen him wounded and limping but she didn't tell them that. Didn't seem to tell them anything that would give them confidence. She'd given them truth but it was twisted and confused. Cicadas and teeth in the ground... those were true as far as they went, though the mudbugs were a little more dangerous that a plague of grasshoppers.

Riddick grinned to himself; he'd have to make some time to talk with the girl tomorrow, after he'd whittled the numbers down some. See if he could figure out if she was a Seer or a Reader or something else entirely. If she was predicting the future and holding back his plans, she had control over her gifts, which put her a step ahead of the game. It had been a long time since he'd met anyone interesting. Taking a long slow breath Riddick looked at Dog. Time to get to work, whittling down the numbers so he'd be able to sneak in and out of the station more easily. He clicked his teeth and Dog began to run forward towards the sensor he'd pointed out to it.

The Cyclops made its alert sound, though the noise was a bit too much like those creatures on Hades where he'd met Jack and the Imam for his taste. Yeah that thing would get on his nerves. He grinned as the big merc with the braided mohawk took a shot and seemed to deliberately miss. An animal lover. He could work with that, at least until the big man tried to take his head.

Dog snuck up on the sensor and tugged it out of the ground, happily bringing it back to Riddick. He took a minute to pet and praise the animal before he took hold of the sensor. "Good boy," He let the animal lick his neck and grinned. "Now go on home. Go home." He patted it on the flank and emphasized the order. Dog took off for the caves. Riddick watched for a minute, the happy natured beast following the trail Riddick had left, deliberately moving around the traps.

Bracing himself for the noise, Riddick took the sensor and began to slam it to the ground. The machine went nuts, swinging its bulbous head in circles, up and down, making its noise the whole time. Finally, Santana did something that yanked its power. One of the mercs out by the perimeter shouted sarcastically in relief and Santana shouted back for them to fuck themselves. Riddick smirked. Now the fun began.

He heard the trap go off and the screams of the man caught in them. Heard Santana commanding his man to not move. From the way he kept repeating himself it seemed like the man was not obeying. Not five minutes later another trip was sprung. And the screaming stopped...abruptly.

Of course, at the time that happened he was busy with someone else. Someone named Nunez if the shouting was anything to go by. He killed him quick and snuck off through the dark. Peach Fuzz, ran past him in the dark, never even caught a glimpse of the convict he'd run past. Kid was too green for this crew, worried about the men.

Riddick smiled to himself as he stalked the pair of mercs who were headed to the spot where he'd taken Nunez. The sensible one from before was saying, sarcastically mind you, how eleven was overkill and how the other knew all about Riddick. The two mercs, prudently for once, put their backs to each other and circled, keeping their eyes open for him.

The pool of blood Nunez had left on the rock unnerved them apparently. Problem was, while they were circling, that was when he could sneak up on them. He decided to take the idiot one. The one that was a half step smarter could live a while longer. He seemed to respect what the girl said. And the smarter people were the more fun it was to play mind games with them.

He grabbed the stupid one, Falco, hit him hard on the head, and walked calmly away, dragging him by one foot. He could hear the one merc behind him panicking when he got no answer to his questions. And Peach Fuzz came running up on the halfway smart merc and nearly got killed. Then they were both shooting at him, but by the time they knew where to aim, he was out of their line of sight. Gun mounted lights could only pierce so far in the dark after all, and the distance they could reach was something he'd made a point to learn in the years since he'd started running. When the darkness was your ally, you educated yourself on how to avoid light.

And this piece of garbage he was dragging was alive, which was fine because he was feeling like some answers would be a good idea.

* * *

The caves were somewhat comforting. He wouldn't be able to stay in them for long. The hunting party would start up tomorrow he'd bet. But he'd have enough time to give Dog some water and then start questioning the merc.

The man's head was harder than he thought; he was starting to wake up. Not quick enough to get out of the strips of leather Riddick was using to tie him up though. "Hey Falco," Riddick greeted him. He could see the man's face plainly, "I got bad news."

"I'm already dead," Falco guessed, and Riddick couldn't help but chuckle.

"Well you're stupid but you're quick," He nodded. "Yeah, you're already dead. How you die though, that's up to you." He waited but Falco wasn't biting, "See I have some questions. And if you answer them the way I like, you'll die quick."

"What if you don't like the answers?" Falco wasn't as stupid as he'd sounded out in the field.

"Well I can smell when you're lyin' so that won't work," Riddick chuckled, low and evil in his throat. "But if you tell the truth, and I don't like what you're saying. Well...we'll see if you can manage the truth. But every lie you tell me, I'm gonna make you hurt. How much you hurt is up to you."

"Man you know I can't tell you about guild operations, or the organization or financial _lè sè_," Falco started out by being honest, which was a good sign. "What I actually know I'd have to lie about."

"I don't give a shit about your guild. I don't care about your clan or whatever you call yourselves or even your bounties," Riddick sneered. "I'm not a merc. Haven't you heard? I'm Riddick. I'm an animal." The moron thought he cared about the politics and workings of the supposedly powerful mercenaries guild or how they made their money? He knew most of that _chòu mǎniào_ already. And what he didn't know he didn't care about.

"I've heard," Falco sounded glum. "If it's not merc ops what do you want to know?"

"The girl you got in chains," Riddick said slowly. "Santana keeps her on a short leash. What is she to him?"

"She's his..." Falco hesitated and Riddick pressed his knife to the man's balls. The merc's voice was a little panicked when he spoke again but it was an honest panic. "I don't know what you'd call it exactly. I don't have a fancy education. She's his edge I guess. He said he sees all, knows all, beats all...well she's how he does it."

"And he keeps her in chains because of that?" He didn't think mercs could be much lower but Santana was really sinking fast.

"No, because she was a bounty before he decided to keep her," Falco shook his head. "He burnt everything we had on her, scrubbed the cortex and everything after he sent off to the Feds that she was dead. She's a ghost. Doesn't exist anymore. It's why Santana don't want the other crew talkin' to her. She's worth more to him as his edge than as a bounty. She's been with us for almost a year an' a half. Hardly think about where she come from anymore."

"So she Sees things..." Riddick frowned. "Why does he keep her chained up?"

"Luna got her a bucket of water once, so she could wash," The merc spoke quickly. "Then he made the awesome mistake of giving her privacy. Five minutes later he checked on her and her head was in the bucket. She nearly downed herself."

"But she didn't get the job done," Riddick narrowed his eyes at the merc. "What set her off?"

"What?" Falco was playing dumb again and Riddick sighed. The smart behavior had been too good to last.

"A girl like that tried to kill herself? If that had been her end game she'd a found a way to do it before then," Riddick explained patiently. "So something set her off. Like an animal with its foot caught in a trap."

"It mighta been, uh, when... Diaz got a little hard up...and he had her again," The merc said quickly.

"You're lyin' Falco," Riddick growled and Dog poked his head up in interest. "Maybe I oughta start on your balls, teach you a lesson..." He slid the tip of his knife over the man's zipper and Falco flinched.

"All right," The merc almost whined. "It was me. It'd been a long time and she's a fine looking piece, or she was. I needed a woman man...and Santana didn't care, not really." He shook his head, "But she went...I dunno, somewhere else in her head. For two days. Didn't eat, or drink, hardly even was breathing. Luna said she was in shock. She was cata...cat something. Cats tonic."

"Catatonic," Riddick snarled at him. "Stuck on a ship with seven of you pigs and you raped her again."

"Yeah she did that," Falco nodded. "After that...Santana was the only one allowed to touch her unless Luna was helping her get cleaned up. Diaz sometimes...but we got another girl then and Santana said no more with the little edge girl. We had to keep her in working order."

"And how do you do that?" Riddick wanted to know. "Beatings twice a day?"

"We'll kick her out of the way sometimes but we don't beat on her," Falco looked like he'd been accused of a heinous crime. "Sure, she might get the back of our hands now and then, but we don't beat her. Santana does that. He's got a temper. Sometimes she don't See stuff as well as he wants. Sometimes things go wrong. She's supposed to See that shit. She don't do her job, she pays for it."

Riddick growled again and the pungent smell of urine filled the air as Falco lost control of his bladder. "So you gang raped her, for what sounds like at least a month. Then _only_ every now and then, until you got another girl to treat like a whore. You hit her every so often and Santana beats her when he gets the urge. You keep her chained up and you don't even let her shower or comb out her hair. But you call me the savage?"

He stood and stalked over to the entrance of the cave to regain his control before he resumed his questioning. He kept hearing Kyra's voice saying 'They slaved me out', in his memory like a cry from his atrophied conscience. "Tell me about where you found her," He said finally. "And what's Luna's job with her. He's the peach fuzz right?"

"Yeah, he's a kid still. When she first started to prophecy he was around, recognized what she was saying as being from the bible. Figured out what she meant when she talked about thirty pieces of silver and wicked tongues." Falco was looking very unnerved. "We found her in this huge marketplace on this little backwater called Deadwood. She was alone. But this guy was following her, just about caught up with her when we grabbed her."

Riddick nodded, "All right. What's her name?"

"I dunno," Falco was telling the truth more's the pity. "Santana knows but he never uses it. Just calls her the girl. Or his edge. He's real possessive."

"Yeah, cause she's a thing to him," Riddick shook his head and took a deep breath. "Now I need to ask you about what equipment you got." Falco squirmed but when Riddick began to draw lines in bloody flesh over his belly, dipping dangerously low, he began to spill everything he knew about both ships, the equipment and weapons. Riddick smirked and continued asking until he was bored with the conversation. "All right Falco. Last question."

"And then you'll kill me quick right?" Falco was sounding hopeful.

Riddick nearly smiled, "I keep my bargains Falco, even if mercs don't usually."

"Okay man," The merc nodded.

"Which ones of your crew raped her?" Riddick asked quietly. "And don't bother to leave anyone out. I don't care if they're dead or alive or in the limbo in between."

"Right, well, uh me. You know that already," Falco nodded. "And Santana... he kept at her the longest... I think he's got problems or something, can't get it up unless he's hitting the girl or she's you know, helpless..." He shuddered.

"Unlike you, you just like straight rape," Riddick interjected sardonically, rolling his eyes.

"Uh," Falco was bright enough to not respond and continue with his list, "Nunez and Rubio. And Diaz. And the guy that Santana had to kill when he turned on him, Feliz."

"Huh, so I got me three rapists tonight, that's handy," Riddick smiled. "Glad I didn't take your pal."

"Vargas? He'd never," Falco shook his head. "He was married once. Some bastard raped and killed her. He's been hunting cons ever since. He's kinda like Luna. Tries to head Santana offa the girl when he can. Diaz...I think to him and the other two its just free sex."

"Well, you don't have to worry about it anymore," Riddick told him coldly. "And when you get to Hell you say hello to Nunez and Rubio. And tell 'em I'll be sending Diaz and Santana along after you." The point of his knife pierced Falco's balls and the merc screamed, "I'm doing this because you raped her. Because you raped that other girl that Santana killed. I don't like civilized scum like you."

Falco wheezed and whimpered and Riddick rolled his eyes before he strung the merc up in the ropes he'd made and opened up the carotid. The man was dead before he knew it. More mercy than the bastard deserved but he didn't have time to play around. It was time to get into place for tomorrow.

* * *

_Author's Note: So we're getting closer to these two actually talking to each other. I figured with River there, Riddick would have a reason to question one of the mercs rather than just killing him. I also wanted him to get a very good idea of what sort of scum he was dealing with. I really don't much care for Santana's crew. It was pretty obvious to me that they'd raped the girl Luna set free so they'd obviously do the same thing with River._

_And this Riddick, with Jack/Kyra on his mind, knowing what she'd gone through...we'll this is a little chance to do something in her memory. He doesn't like mercs to begin with after all._

_River...well River's playing her own version of mind games with the mercs isn't she? Biding her time until she gets an opportunity to escape. And pretty much keeping them in the dark about what she Reads from Riddick. After all why should she help the mercs? _

_Hope you're enjoying this. Riddick and River will actually talk to each other in the next chapter. Wonder how that'll go?_

**Chinese Translations**:

_shǎ bī _ - stupid cunt

_lè sè_ - garbage

_chòu mǎniào_ - Stinking horse piss


	5. 4: In the Long, Sleepless Watches

_**Chapter 4: In the Long, Sleepless Watches Of The Night,**_

When the gunfire started Moss and Lockspur had been ready to go and assist, but Johns had stopped them. River watched as the merc told them that until he said so no one was going out there. The two men had been playing dominos. Dahl had been doing inventory, comparing what was in the station to what was listed in the inventory.

The six very large steel traps with jagged teeth had set off Johns' alarm bells. He'd warned Santana, which was a pity. River'd been hoping that Santana would walk into one of the traps. But her luck wasn't that good. She'd been shaking her head when Johns had asked Santana if he'd done sweeps of the area. Dahl looked at her sharply and River shook her head again, "No sweeps. No idea of Riddick's intelligence. Saw the payday. Nothing else." She shrugged and looked up at Dahl and the men who were still ready to go out and help. "Be glad you are not out there. Be glad you have not promised to put his head in a box."

Dahl's eyes had widened while Moss and Lockspur looked at each other like they hadn't thought Santana could get anymore stupid.

River had heard each of the men die. And part of her had rejoiced even as she'd reeled with the pain of their deaths. They'd been around her for so long, she knew their minds. She knew their thoughts, disgusting as they were. She knew Nunez had a kid brother he sent pay to. That Rubio had been abused as a child, that Falco had never known a true home or family. She'd felt Falco's fear, heard him answer Riddick's questions, seen through his eyes, and heard Riddick growling his fury at hearing what the mercs had done to her.

She'd known Riddick's mind was a thing of beauty. But the purity of his thoughts, the animal nature of him, exquisite. Rape was like lying. It made no sense to him. He literally could not understand the act of procreation being perverted into an assault, not deep down. She knew he understood it intellectually, the whys of it, the psychology. He'd been in prisons, he'd seen it.

But he, personally, had never stooped so low and he had no respect for any man who did.

In the back of his thoughts, there was a girl, a slender woman with rippling hair, hard eyes, smelling of pain; and fury tinted his mind red when Riddick thought of her life and her death. He compared her to River, to what the merc had said they'd done to River and he'd wanting nothing more than to kill every one of them.

She sighed slightly and remembered again that purity of thought. Purity of emotion. He knew she wasn't that girl in his memories. But he carried enough of her, of his past with him, that Riddick wouldn't ever sanction another girl being treated in such a way. It was a comfort that the man who considered himself more animal than human believed so strongly in something that wasn't attuned to his own survival. She had to wonder about his intentions for her. But she could find belief somehow that he would help her to stay alive. And finally free. If she was strong enough to help herself.

Santana's mind was raging, wanting answers, wanting to fix this problem, wanting, wanting always wanting more. He was the greediest man she'd ever met. And he was on his way back to the station, furious as hell and ready to take it out on her.

He came storming into the station and right over to her. His favorite method of softening her up for his fists was to kick her. Her leg took the brunt of it and she was dragged up by her hair while she was still trying to avoid the kick. "What the hell was that," Santana shouted at her. "Three of my guys are dead. Three! And do I get any warning from you? About dingo dongos? About an ambush? About _tiān shā __de_ traps? No!"

River looked up at him and waited until she was sure he was done kicking at her, "She said teeth in the ground. What's here versus what was found. An odd thing to go for a walk." She couldn't throw the words at him as sarcastically as she wanted but she could remind him of his own stupidity and did so with pleasure.

"Teeth in the ground," Santana mocked and his voice grew vicious. "How fucking many?"

"Predator restraint, forty two inch offset jaws. Teeth in jaws, in steel jaws, six gone from the station, two in use, four remain," River nodded solemnly. Now that they knew the traps were out there it was unlikely anyone else would be caught in them. "Cicadas too. She can't see much more. Death is all around this place. Would prefer to leave now. Please and Thank you."

"That's not bad advice," Moss muttered with a look at Santana as he stormed back out. River could hear the boss merc shouting for his men to run sweeps of the ground, to find the rest of the traps and anything else that Riddick may have left as grisly gifts for them. She smiled slightly; it would take them the rest of the night to find the traps. Riddick hadn't put them all close together, he'd spread them out so the mercs would be even more nervous the longer they went without finding them.

River had watched the two men go through another game and a half of dominos before Santana returned. She'd watched Dahl clean her weapon out of sheer boredom and wished she dared to ask for a knife. No one was stupid enough to give the girl in chains a weapon. No one seemed to consider that if Riddick took it into his head to kill her; she'd have less defense than they did. Not that she believed that. But they did. They truly thought that given his inclination Riddick would slaughter everyone who lived and laugh doing it.

She dozed sitting up, her head against the steel column until it became light. It was only an hour later that she heard voices, the mercs inside had been quiet and considerate of her attempt at a nap. She heard Vargas outside, sealing the bodies of Nunez and Rubio in plastic, "One night, three dead. Not sure I'm loving this trend."

"Two dead, one missing," Luna corrected him.

"Like I said, three dead," Vargas had a shrug in his voice.

Diaz, with his dark humor, saw the bright side of that gruesome fact, "Well, look at it this way boys. We might all fit on one ship now."

Santana came back to the station; she could hear the scrape of the metal traps over the ground and sighed. Obviously, Diaz and Santana would not die by metal teeth in their throat. She'd held out the faint hope that in their search for them the steel jaws might snap shut. But they'd avoided that fate. Pity. "Diaz, get those other traps back there." He was coming up the ramp into the station now, "Luna, say something...Bible like over these bodies."

He entered the station and took a chair, turning it so he could lean on the back, looking at Johns. "So, maybe...we zero this out." He jerked his head at Johns, "What is your tag anyway?"

"So now you wanna know my name," Johns was relaxed, almost casual as he regarded the other boss merc. "Well I'm not sure I wanna say. Because everyone you know by name, Santana, ends up dead."

River shook her head and backed up against her column, she could have told Johns that taunting Santana was not wise. The grimy merc boss stood and slashed his hand across the table, throwing dishes to the ground.

Dahl glared as he sat back down with a smirk, "You gotta clean this shit up?"

Santana said something in Spanish and Dahl either understood it or didn't like his tone because she punched him in the nose. Then she grabbed his shirt hauled him forward and did it again. River grinned but kept her face hidden behind her knees. It wouldn't do for Santana to see she was pleased he'd been hurt.

Johns said her name, and Dahl stopped with a smirk at Santana. The boss merc smiled slightly, "Watch out for surprise attacks."

Santana held a cloth to his bleeding nose, "Maybe, maybe it's time to start merging assets, right?"

River shook her head, amazed at the sheer nerve of the man. But Santana wasn't charming, wasn't polite, nerve was really the only way he had of getting what he wanted if bullying didn't work.

Johns' chuckle was less than amused, "So this is your way of asking for my help?"

Santana was still trying to breathe and move his mouth properly, "This is me saying I might need some of your gear." Johns got up and moved towards Moss, Santana following him, speaking through the cloth again. "If some of your guys happen to come attached to some of your gear, I will understand. That's the way it's gotta be."

Johns stopped near Moss and pointed his thumb at the man and the air hog he was leaning against, "So you're asking for my gear help."

"More like that," Santana nodded. River drew her hair over her shoulder and began another seemingly endless attempt to untangle the knots.

"Moss?" Johns looked at his guy.

Moss moved slightly, leaning towards the handle of the hog and pretended to listen. River was grateful her hair hid her smile when Moss turned back to Santana after leaning back down on his hog. "It say nah...bitch."

"There's your answer," Johns told the other merc.

"What the fuck do you want man?" Santana was losing patience. That was never a good thing for River and she made herself as small as she could. Riddick was nearby, she could feel his mind, but she didn't know where yet.

Johns moved to put on his armor, Lockspur and Dahl helping him into it as he spoke to the other boss, "You know what? I'm gonna fold you in Santana. But I give orders to Dahl. And Dahl's gonna give orders to you. That's the chain of command from this point forward."

River shuddered as Santana's mood turned ugly. "Why am I not loving this plan so far?" He asked in a deceptively mild voice. "Oh, I know, I know. You know why? Because it sucks ass and swallows." Dahl wasn't concerned though, moving past him as Santana blustered, "I'm not taking orders from your pet whore who thinks I won't smack her right back if she—" Dahl's fist slammed into his head, knocking him down and into the painted steel railing.

As Santana gasped in shock and pain Dahl looked at him, "I don't fuck guys." She turned to continue on, "Occasionally I fuck 'em up if they need it."

River watched carefully as Johns moved over to stand before Santana, who was still on the ground, "Here's what's gonna happen Santana, you're gonna take a back seat. We'll track Riddick down, I promise." River listened to the merc as he spoke so calmly, Santana's opposite in so many ways. "But I want him alive. You give me a day. And after that he's yours to kill."

Santana didn't quite believe what his ears had heard, but River had been listening to Johns' thoughts and she knew exactly what he wanted. She didn't know if he'd get it, but she understood his motivations. Finally Santana confirmed what Johns meant, his tone half skeptical, "You're giving me the bounty?"

Johns nodded, "We pay my crew, fuel costs, and the rest is yours. That's the deal."

Santana was suspicious, River could hear his thoughts that there had to be a catch, "But what is Riddick for you? Not just some convict. What do you want? Why are you here? Who are you?"

Johns looked at him, "My name is Johns."

He moved forward and began giving his men orders, "Lock down those ships and get those hogs on deck. I will ride with Moss and Lockspur. I wanna non lethal load out, M.O.E.s and phosphor frags to start with." River watched as he picked up a heavy gauge gun, "This is a man that hunts by night. Let's take it to him by day."

He stalked out of the station, all business now, "Diaz, Vargas, show me the spot of the last kill."

River listened as the mercs converged where Falco had been taken. She wasn't concerned with the mercs; Johns and his crew were intelligent but they were no match for Riddick's mind. And definitely no match for hers.

She was more interested in mentally tracking Riddick. Dahl gave orders and then came back into the station. Before River could speak, Dahl grabbed a few things off a shelf and crouched in front of her. "Is my boss walking into a trap?" She held up two protein bars, food for a day and a half if River made it last. Two meals for a normal merc.

River tilted her head and closed her eyes for a moment. Breathing in deeply she opened her eyes, "What was lost will be found. Tracking the hound. No jaws to snap shut. No convict to snatch up." She blinked, "The Dahl understands?"

"We'll find Falco most likely, by following the dog. No traps but no Riddick either, wherever it is that they find Falco," Dahl summarized.

River nodded and sighed tiredly, "She needs to sleep. Watched all night, tried to See. The Riddick...he is like a grassfire...everything in his path is changed."

Dahl nodded her expression half-sympathetic and gave her the protein bars. "Eat them; I'll make sure you get more later on. Johns will too. We can't give you weapons...you'd probably shoot your own foot off if I did. And with Riddick around...if you're unarmed, you're less likely to be a threat, so he's less likely to kill you."

River shook her head, "Half truth." She whispered as she opened a bar and broke off a piece. "Hopes for that. Not sure if she believes." She shrugged, "Haven't had a full belly in sixteen months. Can't eat too fast."

Dahl nodded and left the station and River smiled to herself. She'd wait a bit of time for everyone to become fully immersed in their tasks and she could try to get that slice of metal off the table.

* * *

It wasn't easy to sneak into the station, but it had to be done, for various reasons. The mercs were occupied with their different tasks and the girl was the only one inside. Funny though, when he looked in the skylight she was staring up at it as if she was waiting for him. So either her prophecies were a lot easier for her to understand when they stayed in her head, or she was very good at hiding just how much she could do.

Not that she wasn't preoccupied with a task of her own. She'd gotten to her feet and was balanced on one foot as far from her steel column as her chains would allow and had the other foot outstretched, toes reaching towards a narrow length of metal on the table nearby. For someone chained up she moved very gracefully. He watched for a bit, as she made the attempt, and then with a cautious look at the door tried to fling herself at the table, her free arm outstretched.

All that accomplished was for her to end up crouched, one hand catching the chains before they hit the concrete floor and rang a warning to the mercs that she was moving around. She was fucking graceful, he'd give her that. But she'd smelt of surprise when she succeeded in catching the chains so he wondered if this was the first time she'd really had any space to move around. If she'd been new to cryo, she wouldn't know it kept muscle from atrophying while she slept.

That was when she looked up and rolled her eyes at him, "He could come down and be useful." She remarked conversationally as she moved back to her column and sat, her gaze refastened on the prize she sought.

Riddick almost chuckled; she had a lot of attitude for someone covered in old and fresh bruises, chained up like she was a convict herself. Swinging down to the crossbeams and then dropping lightly to the floor, he offered her a grin, "Why do you want it?" He picked up the piece of metal; it wasn't more than an eighth of an inch wide and only three inches long.

"He knows very well why she wants it," She refused to look at him again and huffed in annoyance as he crouched near her and held it just out of her reach.

"Planning a daring escape?" Riddick wasn't sure that was a good idea. Too much could go wrong between now and the rain. He wasn't going to have time to help her and if she disappeared they'd all come looking, blaming him, assuming she was dead or he kidnapped her. And the boss merc that liked to push her around was dangerously twitchy. Not professional at all.

"For later," She nodded slowly and looked at him. "To save a life that would be otherwise lost. One of the few worth saving."

He wasn't sure what she meant by that, but she seemed to know what she was talking about. And as long as she wasn't trying to spring her shackles right this minute he could get behind escape plans. They were his specialty after all. She smiled, an expression made no less gorgeous by the scar bisecting her lower lip or the bruises on her face. Slender fingers slid over his hand as she took the little length of metal and tucked it into a seam of her shirt. He'd felt calluses on her palms, similar to his, like she'd been used to holding the hilt of a knife or a blade in her hand. Her dark eyes were all too knowing as she stared at him, and he wondered again just how gifted she was that the mercs kept her and didn't use her for anything other than her mind.

She shuddered as he had the thought and he looked at her sharply, "Why exactly do they keep you?"

"Caught her..." She whispered softly, "Decided to keep her when they found out what she could do. A Precog. A Seer. They think." Her smirk was wicked and it was a look he found himself enjoying on that pretty face. "For the favor of the lock pick and the pleasure of his company he may have questions answered. But she doesn't know where Furya is. Sorry. She can look but it can't be found now. Too many other thoughts screaming." She shook her head and offered a wry smile, "Give her a blade and see how well she can dance. But she hasn't been able to dance in more than a year. Sixteen months, one week, three days." Her eyes sharpened as they stared into his, "He's wondering if she's broken. He doesn't like weak broken things. Ballerinas that don't spin when their box is opened. She is their edge. Kept from death. Kept from everything. She plays the only game left. Waiting game."

"So you're a Seer. And more than that," Riddick mused, keeping his voice low. "Don't seem broken to me. A little bent maybe." He looked towards the door and tilted his head curiously, "They all seem to think you're weak though, so you're doing a good job of hiding that spine. Surprised you ain't caught their eye again though. Even under the bruises easy to see you're a woman still."

The girl smirked at him, "She hides away in her mind when men inflict their bodies upon her. No edge if they rape the girl. Took them a full month to figure it. No more precog, no more words or visions if they force themselves on her. The boy takes care of her. Interprets her visions." She shrugged, "If I had my mouth I would bite. If I had my liberty, I would do my liking. I would rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace. I cannot hide what I am. But seek not to alter me."

"Smart little thing aren't you," He had been taking a catalog of her injuries; the smell of old dead blood, and the bruises that seemed to cover every inch of her body. She was wiry, muscled; but almost too thin, as if they kept her on short rations. That long dark hair was a mare's nest hanging down to her waist, tangled and half falling in her eyes. But she had a stubborn jaw and intelligent eyes under the bruises. He wouldn't know how tough she was until she got her hands on a weapon, though her talk about handling a blade and dancing was promising. Still he'd seen enough to know that talk was almost never followed by action.

"She is a genius," She lifted on shoulder diffidently. "She could be lying. Could be exaggerating, he has no way to know." Those dark eyes slid towards the door and she jerked her head up towards the crossbeams. "Dahl is going to come in soon. You will see that the girl is skilled soon enough. She makes it a promise. Promises are always to be kept."

Riddick nodded, "I'll be around." A leap, easy enough for him, and he was balanced on the crossbeams, then sliding back out the rooftop window.

* * *

_Author's Note: So what do we think of these two finally meeting? Worth the wait? I hope you all are enjoying this. I'm still dealing with my other WIPs but this one is almost complete except for some editing of the final parts. _

_I've been working on the sequel and Animals a the same time which can get a little confusing. The switching back and forth between this version of Riddick and River and the Animals version of those two is strange because they're very different people in this one than they are in Aniamals. But hopefully I won't mess things up too much. _

_Anyhow, hope to have another chapter up next week. Enjoy and I'd love to hear what everyone thinks. Thanks for all the follows and faves. You guys rock._

**Chinese Translations**:

_tiān shā __de__ - _Goddam!

**Quote Sources**:

If I had my mouth I would bite. If I had my liberty, I would do my liking. I would rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace. I cannot hide what I am. But seek not to alter me. - Much Ado About Nothing - William Shakespeare


	6. 6: To Gild Refined Gold

_**Chapter 5: To Gild Refined Gold, To Paint the Lily**_

He watched and listened as Dahl came back in the station, "What's your name anyway?" Dahl crouched near the girl. "Can't keep calling you girl."

The girl shook her head, "She is never to be called by name." Her dark eyes fixed on the blonde merc and she shrugged. "She is the Girl. The Seer. Can call her Girl. She doesn't mind."

"I mind," Dahl was frowning and Riddick found himself gaining a modicum of respect for the female merc. She wouldn't go against her boss but she plainly didn't care for how the girl was being treated. "You've got dark hair, and dark eyes, sad like. Sorta part of Santana's crew...how about Dolores?"

The girl shook her head, "She will not respond. She appreciates the kindness. But she cannot respond to a name. Not unless she wishes a beating." She looked at towards a door in the wall, "If Dahl wishes to show her a kindness, she could bring water and cloth, and let the girl wash herself. Or a comb, for her hair."

"Well a bucket is out, but I could bring you a bowl or something," Dahl offered. "And I'll keep an eye out for the men, stand in the door."

Dark eyes brightened and she nodded enthusiastically, "Will not make an attempt upon her own life. Gives her word. Feel grimy."

Riddick watched as Dahl nodded and got up and found a small bowl and a packet of soap in the supplies. She grabbed a cloth and disappeared into the other room. He'd taken a look earlier. One window was busted, but the other still had its storm shutters. He wouldn't be able to get in through there but he could certainly steal things if they were within reach. As he was considering the thought, Dahl came back out with a bowl brimful of water, the cloth in the bottom, and set them near the girl's feet.

True to her word, Dahl moved to the door and stood in it. If anyone wanted to get to the girl trying to bathe, they'd have to go past her. Riddick watched curiously, as the slender little woman first dipped her hands in the water and smoothed it over her arms, face and collarbone. Her shirt was torn in multiple places. It looked as if it had begun its life as a button down but the sleeves and collar had been torn off, half the buttons were missing and the bra she wore under it could be seen through the rents in the fabric.

As he watched, he saw her nimble fingers unhook the front of her bra. He couldn't see much, mores' the pity, except a strip of silky white skin; from her collarbone to her belly button it was exposed to his gaze. Even there she was bruised and he stifled a growl at the ugly marks on such pretty flesh. His tongue slid over his lips as she ripped open the soap packet and worked up a lather, rubbing it over the dampened flesh until she had a good foam. The chain jangled and chimed as she moved, using the damp cloth to wash the soap off.

She wiped off her face and stared up at the skylight, her dark eyes meeting his. Her face was carefully blank, as if she'd wiped off her expression along with the soap and he regretted the loss of that fire he'd seen. She was beautiful, even with the bruises, the scars he could see parts of. It was the fire, that defiance he'd seen in her before, that made her so gorgeous in his eyes. Lovely women without personality might as well be statues for all that they moved him. This girl, bruised and chained, that spitfire attitude even as she was dragged around, she was all the more striking because of it. He wished he knew what it was that had made her go blank.

He wondered if watching her while she was bathing was what made him an animal? It had been so long since he'd seen a real woman. And even longer since he'd seen any woman who wasn't one of the Necro concubines. It wasn't like he could touch, if she didn't welcome his hands he'd be no better than the mercs. But watching…he wasn't sure if he'd even be able to stop himself. He couldn't help but look at her, slender curves and soft looking skin over wiry muscle. She was beautiful even covered in dust, dirt, and bruises. Looking didn't give him the right to touch, Riddick reminded himself sternly. It was for the woman to grant that privilege, not for him to take it. But his palms itched to touch even as he throttled back his hunger.

He knew all she wanted was to get clean. He understood what that was like but he could no sooner look away from her than he could make friends with Santana. She was a woman, a beautiful woman, graceful and erotic in her movements and even if he never touched her, he couldn't help appreciating how she looked. He'd be dead if he couldn't see how _tiān shā __de_gorgeous she was. But he wasn't stupid enough to think looking gave him the right to hands on. As he considered the thought, warmth seemed to flood back into her eyes and her lips curved up slightly. Not welcoming but...more understanding.

She stretched her legs out and pointed her toes, the chain links making gentle noises with her slow movements and she dragged the cloth down one perfectly shaped leg, scrubbing off the dirt and what looked like dried blood. She worked the soap and cloth all the way up to her outer hip before she switched to the other leg and did the same thing. Her skirt puddled around her hips and between her thighs, concealing, tantalizing. Riddick caught himself before he groaned; what he wouldn't give to touch, to have her welcome his touch... just to see what that skin felt like. The curve of her hip under his palm, his fingers touching her thighs, or his mouth...he'd kill to have his mouth on her breasts. He bit his lip and forced his now hot blood to slow, controlling himself with an effort.

Without all the dirt, she was all white and black, beautiful, even with the bruises. She dipped the cloth in the water again and his eyes remained fastened to that scrap of fabric as she slid her hand beneath her skirt, movement suggesting she was washing her inner thighs, belly and other parts of her he could only imagine were as lovely as the rest.

She stood and arched her back, stretching and trying to wipe down her spine and shoulder blades. As she moved, her shirt and bra slipped, giving him a glimpse of her breasts, the inner curves of sweet flesh. It was a damn shame that the chains didn't allow her much movement. She couldn't even strip down entirely with the shackle on her wrist. Though he'd pay money, if he had it, if she'd just lift her skirt and flash him a glimpse of those pretty thighs again.

Her face had become wryly amused and she sat back down, closing her bra and buttoning her shirt again. She rubbed the rag over her hair, removing the worst of the dust before she practically attacked her feet. Riddick noticed she had really beat up feet. They looked tougher than the rest of her. But if she was walking around without boots, her soles were probably good and hard. But she was flexing her muscles, rotating her ankles and pointing her toes again, doing something to stretch out.

Riddick sighed slightly. It looked like the time for entertainment and art appreciation was over. Because that was how she moved, like she was art personified, and not the freaky kind. The kind that he'd seen on New Mecca, the kind that let you know you still had a soul. The girl was calling for Dahl, letting her know that she was done. Riddick saw the look on Dahl's face when the woman turned around and saw the girl, fairly clean though her hair was still a mess, and disturbingly beautiful. "Better hide your face when the men get back," Dahl advised as she took the dirty water, bowl and rag. "Johns' crew is good, but your guys...dunno how much you can trust 'em to behave when you look like a Core beauty in rags."

The girl shrugged, "Vargas and Luna won't touch me." She told the female merc as the woman gathered her own things. "Diaz isn't allowed to do more than hit me. And Santana..." She shrugged. "Can't do anything about him. Gotten clean before. Clean or dirty doesn't matter. Just likes the girl in chains."

"Delightful," Dahl scowled severely. "I'm gonna wash up. Anyone gives you a hard time you yell. Johns put me in charge and if something... well something else happens to you he won't be happy."

The girl nodded, "Will keep an eye out for Riddick." She tilted her head, "Seeing at night indicates that movement in daylight would not be optimal for such eyes."

"Yeah," Dahl nodded. "That's kinda what Johns was thinking too." She went into the bathroom and closed the door securely behind her. Riddick could hear the click of the lock, the clank of a gun belt being hung within reach and the rustle of clothing being removed. He grinned down at the girl who just rolled her eyes at his behavior. Yeah, she was right, he was a lecher sometimes, but it had been a good year since he'd seen a woman and she and Dahl were all he had to think on. Of course he was going to get as good a look as he could.

He had to give Dahl credit though; even over the running water, she heard something. She turned it off and looked out the broken window, then moved towards the window with the storm shutters. He dropped silently to the ground and moved to look in the broken window to see her completely bare body, her back turned to him. Curves and muscle and hair the same color as Carolyn's to his eyes. She was made of sterner stuff than Carolyn, at least to first appearances.

He moved back out of sight as she turned towards the sink and the mirror, turning the water back on and washing up. She was thorough and methodical and he truly appreciated the amount of time she spent on her breasts and belly. She was curved a bit more lushly than the girl in chains. But her movements weren't nearly as graceful. Powerful, but she was washing to wash, not hiding, not showing off but concealing her body at the same time.

The girl had known he was watching her and had seemed to find it upsetting at first. She'd acted almost as if she knew what was in his mind. Had she read his face? Or something else? She'd become...not sultry but less about practicality and more about turning her movements into embodiments of grace. She'd almost performed; made herself more beautiful instead of less. And since the sex part was all in his mind, he could just appreciate the beauty of her. Dahl had no idea he was watching and there was a certain pleasure in that, in seeing all of her, knowing he could tease her with that later. And there was also the plain old pleasure in seeing a pretty and naked woman.

Dahl bent over to splash water on her face and Riddick grinned and ghosted his hand over her hair and spine before he reached for the cosmetics case. The nudity had been a nice bonus. Though if he had his choice between the two women, all things being equal... And by being equal, he meant if one of them hadn't been gang raped until she looked blank eyed and empty when he was watching her. Hell yes, all things being equal he'd screw Dahl; screw her to the wall. But he'd want to keep the girl around for a while. Yeah he'd like to screw her too. He was still a male. But she looked like she'd be interesting. Like having a conversation would be about more than guns or shivs or killing.

Riddick made his way back up to the roof and looked in on the girl; she was more interesting in her own way than Dahl was. But for once, she wasn't looking up, looking for him. Her eyes were fixed on something else. Santana was standing outside the bathroom door, and the girl had a fresh bruise on her calf, red and angry, like a bootmark. Riddick forced the growl in his throat back down. He didn't like how this felt; bad all around.

But he had to get a look inside the ships, get a visual confirmation that they'd both pulled nodes, and see if everything he'd gotten out of Falco was true. So he couldn't stay and keep an eye on the situation, not for at least a little while. With a mental curse at his own nature, he slid from the roof of the station and mounted the top of the fancier ship. Vargas actually opened it up and was looking for tools and that was nice of him. When the ship was locked not even Riddick's skills could get the top hatch open for a look around with the handy mirror on the make up compact.

And yep, Johns had pulled a node from his ship, just like Santana had. Smart and stupid at the same time. The explosive lock on the wall locker meant that both nodes were in the same place.

Riddick grinned and made his way back up to the station's roof. Now he could figure out how to mess with the mercs. In the distance near the mountains, he could hear the hogs starting up again. The mercs were on their way back.

* * *

_Author's Note: So Riddick is...lecherous. But I think we all knew that if we'd seen the movie. How many women were in that bed in the flashback? Seriously? But we also know that given no other options he tends to exercise control over his urges and hungers. He wouldn't be able to escape so easily and hide for so long if he couldn't control himself._

_But Riddick, unlike some of the mercs, also has rules. I've noticed there are things he won't do. So I've been playing with that a bit here. Still, it has been pointed out that being the lecherous hump that he is he probably wouldn't pass up spying on both River and Dahl as they bathe. _

_Now what River thought of being spied on...that's something we'll find out later. But in the meantime... _

_Hope you've enjoyed and you'll tell me what you think. _

_Thanks muchly to RCoots for her huge help in beta-ing this for me. There's a huge difference in how it looks now and the draft I sent her and the improvements (I hope they're improvements anyway) are due to her feedback. She's an awesome writer her own self so go check out her stuff. She just finished a killer Riverick fic! (I mean killer in a good way, because we all love our big manly murderer right?)_

**Chinese Translations**:

_tiān shā __de _- goddamn


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